We sort of redeemed the experience by frosting and decorating the cakes:

Cath pointed me to this idea for play-dough shaped into a carrot and we did this:

We planted bean seeds ~ see what they did! And, sprouted carrot tops (this took two full weeks to even get this far!) I was very skeptical that this would work, but it did!

We made a life-size carrot and marked our heights on it:

And, had an all-orange lunch:

The next week, we did Play With Me - we actually spent two weeks on this book since it was rainy and cold the first week and most of the things we wanted to do were outside!

We studied the Genesis account of Creation - and made these pictures as we read along. For example, the girls started with one piece of black paper each and then we added the sky, water, land, etc... in the order it was created. One side was day time and one side was night:

We hung a bird feeder and filled it with bird seed in hopes of seeing some feathered friends ~ we haven't seen a single one yet, but will keep watching!

We talked about some of the girls feelings in the story - but our favorite thing was walking to our neighborhood "lake" and taking a picnic lunch to eat on the small dock. The little ladies pretended to fish and we found a milkweed to blow along the way! We saw a squirrel, bird and cat - they wanted to see a fawn, but weren't too discouraged that we did not. Emily found a natural broom and had fun sweeping all the walk home!

I had also thought of making animal shaped sugar cookies and decorating some to deliver to a friend who is lonely. We did not get this done - and I remembered Rachel's terror at the friends dogs, so I decided it was best not to attempt this right now.

Homemade Play Dough (making this brought back immediate childhood memories!)

Combine ingredients and pour into one 9x13, two round or two 8x8 square pans, prepared. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes (rectangle) or 30-35 minutes (round) or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

18 comments:

Grace
said...

I love reading about your homeschool adventures. I still feel torn whether or not I should go this route with Bri. I can't believe she is 4 and I am already at the decision point. How did that happen. Emily's bangs are looking really good by the way ;):) and I love all the pics of their sweet faces.

Cute, cute pics! I enjoy reading about your adventures with Before Five in a Row. I am planning to start this book with my daughter next fall. She will be 3 years old by then and I think she is going to have fun. I'm sure I'll be referring back to your site frequently to use some of your ideas!

Great ideas - thank you for sharing! One of my favorite times of day with my 2 boys is "book time." I'll have to ask the older one to help me think of story-related things to do. Your children are so adorable! I always enjoy seeing their pictures. Your blog is really a blessing to me. Thank you so much for writing!

Had a little peek at your blog and low and behold saw my playdough carrot idea being used - was very excited! My little sister suggested the idea (only using orange jelly beans) and now it able to be used by some cute little girls on the other side of the world!

Monica,I LOVE the project idea for Creation...going to use it with my own little guys! I have been feeling stifled in how I teach my boys about the Lord lately and this idea lit my little creative spark again! Thanks so much! Leisa